Ronald Koeman wasted little time in ending Oumar Niasse’s Everton career but he’s struggling to make the grade at Hull City too.
You’d have needed a heart carved from granite to not feel any sympathy for Oumar Niasse earlier in the season. As reported by The Guardian, the then third most expensive signing in Everton’s history was banished to the reserves by Ronald Koeman, stripped of his shirt number and even denied a locker.
“It’s really sad,” he said. “I don’t think I deserve this.”
However, if his performance for Hull City against Manchester United proved anything, it’s that Koeman was perhaps right to discard him without a second thought.
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In Hull’s counter-attacking gameplan, the onus was on Niasse, a strong, burly striker on initial inspection, to hold the ball up and bring his team-mates into play. What followed was one of the most inept centre-forward performances at Premier League level for many a year.
Notwithstanding the fact he was extremely lucky to remain on the pitch as long as he did following two wild, high booted challenges when he already had a booking to his name, Niasse failed to offer any sort of outlet, handing back possession with stray passes and failing to even challenge for loose balls.
According to WhoScored, he won a grand total of zero aerial duels, was dispossessed on three separate occasions and posted a dismal pass completion of 57 per cent.
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And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why Ronald Koeman has made it so far in football management. At the top level, you can’t afford to put sentiment before sense.
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